Why I Love You
by xDreamingFloweRx
Summary: Two opposites, a overachiever and a heartthrob. James loves Lily, he always has. He's had to live with her hatred for him. She's had to deal with his unwanted obsession. Everyone at Hogwarts wants them to happen. The day will come, it’s destiny.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, I just wanted to tell you about this story. It's one of those Lily/James things, how could I resist? I always try not to be clich****é, because it drives me crazy. If you have any comments leave me a review or whatever. This story takes place in Lily and James's 7th year at Hogwarts, they're Head Boy and Girl together. I didn't write a lot of side details in this chapter because I just wanted to establish the relationship between the two famous characters. Of course, all the familiar characters, plots, settings, etc. are J. K. Rowling's. I thought I would mention that the smashing Marauders will take a large part in the story and I love them to death.**

* * *

"Lily – wait up!" yelled a boy as he chased the flaming red-head down a flight of spiral stairs. He gripped the banister and sprinted down the last few steps to catch her arm as she tried to round a corner. "Lily…" he said, seeming to forget his urgent query as a sudden tingling sensation went up his arm at contact with her skin.

The girl named Lily turned her eyes – startlingly green eyes – to his face with a look of great distain. He felt his heart pick up speed at her icy glare.

"Potter," acknowledged the girl. She jerked her arm away from his grasp and put her hands on her hips.

James Potter just stared down at Lily with an intense gaze. He wanted to speak but he seemed to have forgotten how. All he could think about was how he'd touched her arm, still feeling a burn from her skin on his.

Her gorgeous eyes narrowed and her mouth tightened when he didn't speak. _"Well?" _she demanded.

"Um, I was just wondering…" he said, trying to remember why he had been pursuing her moments before. He was suddenly aware that he was grasping something in his left hand. "Did you drop your quill?" he asked, holding up the one in his hand.

Her frown faded and she glanced down at the quill he was holding. "Oh, yes, I think I might have…" she said rummaging in her bag. He handed it to her. "Thanks Potter," she said, and her angry blush turned to one of embarrassment. She started to leave and stopped, looking over her shoulder. "Have a nice day," she called to him and was off to her next class.

James stood still for a moment, shocked. _Well, that went rather better than I'd expected,_ he thought to himself staring after her until she was lost in the crowd of other students making their way to class.

"James!" yelled a high, girly voice behind him. He turned warily, expecting one of his female admirers seeking a chat. Instead, he saw an outrageously handsome seventeen-year old by with shoulder-length black hair walking swiftly at him with a huge grin on his face. Beside the boy was another; tall, lean, and with the tired air of someone just recovering from an illness. This boy had shorter, light brown hair, and blue eyes. Trailing behind the two attractive young men was the last boy. He was shorter and a bit round, but had a mischievous look in his beady eyes.

"Sirius!" called James. Sirius and the other two approached him and they all fell into stride on their way to class.

"Did we just see our little James talking to _THE _Lily Evans?!" asked Sirius, in the same screechy voice of a mother whose son just became prefect.

"Why, mum!" said James, acting shocked. "I thought I told you that I know nothing about this person who calls herself 'THE Lily Evans'."

"Of course not," said Sirius patronizingly, returning to his normal voice. "You've never even met, much less been so obsessed with her that you worship the ground she walks on…"

"Would you care for us to introduce you?" asked the sallow-looking boy with a smirk.

"Why Remus, I would be delighted if I weren't already involved with Elizabeth here," said James, wrapping his arm around the waist of a random fifth-year Hufflepuff girl.

"My name's Jessica, actually," said the girl, seemingly elated by his attention.

"Of course," said James to the girl. Then, he pulled his arm away and blew her a kiss.

"I'll see you after class, baby!" he called and stepped into the History of Magic classroom followed by Sirius, Remus, and Peter, all of whom were roaring with laughter.

The four boys traipsed to the back row of desks in the room and sat down. James and Sirius decided to make themselves comfortable, making the aisles a hazardous jungle of legs.

A bunch of giggling Ravenclaw girls sat in the seats in the back near the four boys.

James, Sirius, and Peter turned their attention to the girls, while Remus pulled out a book and started to read.

"Hey James!" yelled Sirius, even though he was sitting in the desk right beside James's.

"What's up, Padfoot?" said James loudly, using Sirius's nickname.

"What were you and Evans talking about before class?" asked Sirius, allowing his voice to carry to the girls.

"Oh, nothing in particular," James said, winking at a pretty girl named Susan. Susan blushed.

"When's the next Quidditch game?" Susan asked, eyeing the _Gryffindor Quidditch Captain_ badge on the front of James's robes.

"This Sunday, Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff," said Sirius, nonchalantly.

James casually ran a hand through his messy black hair.

"You know," said James, winking at Sirius. "You should come watch."

"Yeah, you never know when something _–interesting-_ might happen," added Sirius with a sly grin.

The girls squealed and Peter, who had been unsuccessfully trying to join their circle, gave up and started chewing his fingernails.

"ATTENTION!" called a deep voice from the front of the classroom. All the students looked up at Professor Binns. Well _through,_ actually, seeing as Binns was hardly more substantial than a wisp of smoke. The oblivious bloke seemed to have no idea that he had died many years previously, and continued to obstinately teach the most boring class in the world, History of Magic.

Remus folded down a corner the page he was on and stuffed his book into his bag. He then pulled out a roll of parchment and a quill. The other students didn't even bother, seeing as trying to pay attention to Binns would result in immediate drowsiness and even loud obnoxious snoring.

As if on cue, a loud, obnoxious snore was emitted from the "sleeping" form of Sirius Black. James gave his friend a very obvious shove and Sirius "woke", with a theatrical jerk.

"What the ruddy hell was that for?!" yelled Sirius in mock-outrage. Binns didn't even notice, but continued plowing through his lecture.

"Sorry mate, but I think you might have been causing a bit of a disturbance with your set of lungs," James replied giving Sirius a sympathetic pat on the back.

"I'll let you know that I was having a very pleasant dream! I believe it involved a few lovely ladies such as these." Sirius winked.

The girls giggled helplessly.

* * *

Lily was furious with herself.

She was supposed to be clever. She was supposed to be dignified. She was _supposed_ to be the brightest witch in her whole goddamn year! She was HEAD GIRL, after all. Head Girls were brilliant, cunning and a role-model for well-intentioned students.

And right now Lily just felt like a normal girl. And normal girls at Hogwarts tended to flock to James Potter. Not that Lily was about to do _that_. No, she could never betray her self-respect and fall to the level of the drooling, desperate girls who followed Potter like geese.

Of course it wasn't just Potter.

It was _them_. The Marauders. The very thought of the name brought a sneer to Lily's lips. The Marauders were a tight circle of friends. There were four in the infuriating square.

First was Remus Lupin.

Mysteriously dubbed "Moony" by his mates, Lupin was the most studious of the four. He was often seen with his head in a book. Lupin was someone Lily could actually respect. He was a prefect, and he carried a certain aura of wisdom. Lupin never lost control or showed his emotions. Calm, cool, and collected, of course.

Next was Sirius Black or "Padfoot".

Black was possibly one of the most infuriating people Lily had ever met. Between hitting on every girl in the school and causing mayhem whenever he was bored, Black glided around without a care in the world. Of course, there wasn't really much to care about when you're naturally brilliant, gorgeous, and have girls falling at your feet. Black was an arrogant heartthrob, that was for sure.

There was Peter Pettigrew.

Carrying the odd nickname of "Wormtail", Peter sure was the oddball of the group. No one could really understand why the elite trio accepted Pettigrew as a Marauder. There was nothing exceptional about Peter; quite the opposite. Peter was not charming, beautiful, intelligent, brave, or admired. How he managed acceptance was past Lily; she was fairly certain that she was not the only one who saw him as less of a Marauder and more of a worshipping tag-along.

And last was James "Prongs" Potter.

Never, never, would Lily have imagined such a hot-headed, self-assured git could exist. But James did more than just _exist_. He was best mates with Sirius Black; the two of them were the leaders of the Marauder foursome. He was star Chaser, Quidditch Captain, Most Revered, Most Desired, Most Arrogant, Most In-Love-With-Himself, Most Likely-Mussing-His-Hair, and somehow, _somehow,_ Head Boy. Sure, James was a brilliant student, popular, respected. But HONESLTY Dumbledore, What The Hell? James was certainly capable of leading his fan club or his Quidditch team or his gang or his entourage, or _whatever_, but without a doubt in her head, Lily was sure that James was not cut out for being Head Boy. After all, Lily was Head Girl.

No one in the right mind would make James Head Boy in the first place, but when _Lily_ was Head Girl?! James was… infatuated with Lily. Not in a good way. Ever since they had gotten to know each other in their third year, James had made it a point to declare his undying love for her whenever the moment seemed to present itself to him. Which was usually when the two of them were in the midst of a listening crowd.

"Please, Lily!" he would say, dropping dramatically down to his knees. "Go out with me!" Sometimes he would serenade her, kiss her feet, write ridiculous love poems for her, or conjure extravagant bouquets of flowers out of thin air. But like all Marauders, James did not learn from his mistakes. It seemed to Lily that the more she turned him down, the more he would pursue her. It was unfathomable, not that she wasn't good-looking, but James could have ANY girl in the whole damn school and of course he wanted the one who didn't want him back. Lily suspected that the whole thing was just a big challenge for him; James couldn't – simply _could not_ – lose at anything.

_Let him suffer, then,_ she told herself. He would have to get over her sooner or later. Okay, well she had been hoping for just that for the past four years but still….

* * *

James felt the wind blow through his hair as he circled the huge stadium.

It was Friday night and the Gryffindor Quidditch team was having a practice.

"Finnegan! Vane!" James shouted at his Beaters. "I want you two to fire as many bludgers as you can at the Chasers."

He watches as they zoomed away on their brooms.

Then he turned his attention his two Chasers. "Ok, mates. I've been trying to think of a new strategy to get around Hufflepuff's Keeper, Smith. I know, he's brilliant, but I've been watching their training and I think I know just what to do."

He began explaining a complicated play to his teammates as a flock of girls went and sat in the bleachers to watch their practice. He noticed Sirius swoop down and land; walking over to the girls. _Bloody hell Sirius, can't you focus for five minutes straight? _James thought, annoyed.

"Oi! Padfoot! Want to get back in the hoops?"

He saw Sirius say something and wink at the girls. "Sorry," Sirius told them. "Duty calls." With that, Sirius leapt on his broom and went back to guarding the goal posts.

Thirty minutes later, James blew his whistle and had his team land.

"Alright, mates! That was alright! I reckon we have a chance on Sunday. One thing, Vane, before you go shower. Remember to hit the bludger with your bat if you don't mind, instead of your broom. Yes, I'm sure it impressed the ladies but in the interest of our winning the game, I would prefer you use the bat, or Hooch will have a stroke."

The team guffawed and set off for the locker room.

"Heads up, Prongs," Sirius warned, staring over James's shoulder. James spun to see what was behind him. Lily Evans was standing on the edge of the field with her arms crossed over her chest, looking furious.

"Alright, Evans?" James asked with a charming grin as he walked over to her.

"Potter," she said through her teeth as a way of greeting.

"What? Did I do something? What's wrong? Unless you're coming to accept my offer…" he said smiling even wider.

"You would think, that with all the _trust_ Dumbledore seems to have in you, you would take a greater responsibility in your duties," she said in disgust.

"W– What?" James asked in confusion.

"Patrol," she hissed. A horrible feeling crashed down on James.

"Oh, shit," he said.

"Yes, you were supposed to have Head Patrol this morning, the third years going to Hogsmeade for the first time and all, but no. You decide to play Quidditch with your mates!"

"I forgot! It was mandatory, anyway. Big game this Sunday."

"Mandatory! I looked at the schedule! You've been booking the field for two hours a day for a week! How can a game be that important to you?" she asked, glowering with rage.

"Evans…" he pleaded. She looked at him with revulsion.

"You are such a self-centered _git_, you know that Potter?" she yelled. "Next time, instead of skiving off duties, I suggest you get your stupid arse over to one of the meetings! Head Boy, indeed!"

With that, she turned on her heel and left.

"Bummer, mate," Sirius said, sympathetically. The two of them started walking to the changing rooms when James spun around.

"You know what? I think I'm going to go for a walk before breakfast," he said.

"Want me to come too?" asked Sirius, being a good friend.

"No, that's ok, Padfoot. I need to think."

Sirius patted James on the back as the two boys headed off in separate directions.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Like any Lily/James story, this one will have characters I made up as Lily's best friends but no, I'm not using Alice Longbottom because everyone does that and like I said before, none of the cliché stuff if I can help it. Some of my own characters will come in chapter two, I said at the top that I just wanted to establish the base relationship between Lily and James in this chapter. Well, anyway, I hope you liked it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, readers. I don't really know how to say this but I will do my best. The author of this fic, my dear friend Juliane… she passed away recently. This is so hard for me to write. In late February a speeding car hit the car she and her father were in. Six of his ribs were broken but Juliane went into a coma that she died in five days later. Friday, February 29. All who knew her are heart-broken. I still wake up everyday and find it hard to believe that she's not here anymore.**

**Juliane always sent me her chapters before she posted them (she has another account plus this one). Today I was going through her old emails to me and I found this chapter. It isn't as perfect as she wanted it, but I'm posting it in her memory. I know none of you really knew Juliane, but please, please have respect for her memory. I miss her so much.**

**Love Marcia**

* * *

Saturday, February 23, 2008 11:52 PM

From: "Juliane" 

To: 

Hey marsh. Here's my next chapter for why I love you. its not quite long enough yet… but I WILL finish it soon. promise. ok, well you know im a procrastinator. but I will. im kind of iffy about the ending. would you look over it for me? thanks a million!!

Love always.

Yours, Juliane

* * *

Lily sighed.

"I just don't understand it. I'm sorry, I know I keep bringing it up… but _bloody hell!_ WHY can't he give it a rest?" she said, pounding the table with her fist.

She was in the library trying to work on Slughorn's Potions essay. Her best friends Serena, Rosalie, and Alyssa were with her. The four of them each had their copy of _Advanced Potion-Making _open on the dusty table in the back of the library. Their essay, which required two feet of parchment on the properties and magical uses of dittany, were half-way done.

"Look, Lily," said Alyssa. "I don't know why, but Potter seems to be pretty determined to get you to go out with him. He's been asking you out daily for what, the last four years?"

"Yeah, thanks. I hadn't noticed," said Lily sarcastically.

Serena smirked at her. "I believe I've said this before, but why don't you just _say yes_, just for the fun of it?"

Alyssa and Rosalie giggled at Lily's furious expression.

"And where exactly is the _fun_ part of that, Serena?" Lily said, glaring.

"Well," Serena said with a mischievous grin, leaning forward across the table. "Between you and me, I've heard he is _fabulous_ when it comes to snogging…"

The girls cracked up. Even Lily, who was routinely teased by her friends about James, thought the idea of herself snogging Potter was downright hilarious.

"Right, I'll keep that in mind the next time he asks me out," Lily said as her laughter subsided.

"_Incoming!"_ sneezed Alyssa as a group of handsome boys approached them.

Who else? It was the Marauders.

"Lily!" called James, with a bad attempt at a surprised look. "I didn't think we would see you here!"

"Completely shocking. Hadn't an inkling, not one. This is smashingly weird. Bloody hell, of all places! It's miffing! I have to say, I'm quite flabbergasted!" Sirius said, looking ridiculously perplexed.

Serena raised her eyebrows. "Why Black," she said scornfully. "We are utterly bamboozled by the uncanny coincidence as well! What were you innocently planning to do – in a library of all places!?"

"We were looking for a book!" exclaimed Sirius.

"Yeah, a book!" mumbled the boys around him.

"Ahh," said Rosalie. "Perhaps we can help. What book were you searching so conveniently for?"

Sirius' face turned bright red. "Huh, um well, James! What was that book called?"

"Er, slipped my mind," said James, turning red also. "Peter?"

"Forgot. Remus?"

"It was the Unabridged Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs and Their Practical Uses in Modern Medicinal Techniques, by Richard Stone."

Everyone gaped at Remus.

"I'm sorry, but you can't have it," said Lily.

"Why not?! We obviously went out of our way to look for it, didn't we?" said Sirius in an attempt at outrage.

Lily held up an ominously thick tome. "I'm using it. Sorry."

The gaping made a reoccurrence.

"Was there anything else you needed?" asked Alyssa, in such a suggestive way that the girls rolled their eyes and James made a puking sound behind Remus' back.

"Nope. We're good. Gotta run. Bye ladies!" said Sirius, running away with Remus and Peter at his heels.

James gave the girls a heart-melting smile. "Lily," he said, giving her a salute. He then turned and disappeared amongst the stacks.

Serena turned to Lily. "Ow ow!" she exclaimed, waggling her eyebrows.

Lily hit her in the arm. "Grow up," she muttered under her breath as the others giggled hysterically.

* * *

"Lily!" said someone in an impatient voice. "I need help!"

"Relax, Serena. I'm going to help you," said Lily, lazily. She and her friends had moved from the library to sit by the fire in the Gryffindor common room. They had all been dormmates up until this year, when Lily went to sleep in the Head Dormitories.

"What's with you today?" asked Alyssa. "You're not usually this tired."

"Patrol…" said Lily, yawning.

Alyssa rolled her eyes. "I'm so lucky. I don't have to do those stupid patrols like you. That must suck."

Just then, Sirius Black walked into the common room. Alyssa jumped up to ask him a question about something or other. While her back was turned, Lily scowled in her direction.

_Bitch,_ mouthed Serena. Lily smirked and Rosalie sniggered.

"Ok, then," said Lily. She stretched her arms and legs and leaned forward in the overstuffed armchair she was sitting in. "What's the assignment?"

Serena gave Lily a thankful look and showed her the parchment she was working on. "Burbage assigned us… writing," she said vaguely.

"Oh, come on! It's Muggle Studies, it can't be that hard," said Lily scornfully. Unlike her wizard-blooded friends, Lily had been brought up by muggles and knew quite enough on the subject.

"It's not an essay," explained Rosalie. "We're being assigned muggle pen-pals. I guess Burbage though that we would better understand how muggles live by actually writing letters to them."

Lily looked surprised. "That's actually a pretty good idea," she said. "You'll have to be careful to act like a muggle yourself."

"Yeah, Burbage explained that to us in class," said Serena, staring in frustration at her blank parchment. "The thing is, I have _no idea_ what to say to a muggle!"

Lily laughed. "I'm sure I can help you with that," she said. "Rosalie, you wrote something already. Let me read it."

Rosalie handed Lily her quarter-foot of parchment.

"Dear muggle," she read out loud. "My name is Rosalie Freeman. I attend the Humphrey Oliver Gladwell-Windram Academy for Rare and Talented Students. I am seventeen, medium tall, brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin, freckles, and I hate reading and I was born in Whales–" Lily paused, looking up. "Wait, that's a really bad run-on sentence."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "It's rubbish," she said.

"Well," said Lily, laughing. "You were a bit blunt about the details, yes. And you really _can't_ call her 'muggle,' you know. She's not supposed to know you're a witch!"

"Oh, right," said Rosalie. She tore off the top of her letter and threw it into the fire.

_Dear Olivia,_ she began again.

Lily turned to Serena. "Now, you're an excellent writer when you have an idea. I'm guessing the idea is the lacking part?" she asked in a knowing voice.

"Yeah, pretty much. I can't think of anything to say!" cried Serena in distress.

"Just introduce yourself," said Lily. "Hi, my name's Serena, I'm blonde, I have dark eyes, I love Quid– I mean football–"

"What's football?" asked Serena.

"It's like the muggle version of Quidditch. There's a white and black ball and two teams kick it up and down a field and try to get it into nets," explained Lily.

Serena started scribbling a letter.

"I think I better check it when you're done, just in case," Lily said with a smile.

* * *

"I'm bored!" yelled Sirius at an innocent–looking second year. The boy dropped his books and ran away.

"Now look what you did!" Sirius yelled at James. He kicked one of the books.

"You're right, what was I thinking?!" said James, knowing better than to retort. Sirius was always in a terrible mood when he was bored.

With a _swish-and-flick_, James levitated the books and stacked them on the table next to him.

"Hey, you there!" he called to a second–year girl who had been watching him and Sirius out of the corner of her eye. She looked up innocently from the book she was pretending to read. "Can you take these to that boy that just ran out of here?" He handed the books to her and winked. She blushed and ran off with the books.

Sirius started muttering something.

"Yes, Sirius, I'm bored too," said James before his friend could do anything more rash.

"Well, DO something about it!" yelled Sirius.

"OH!" said James. "Let's have a party in the Head Dormitories!"

"With food!" agreed Sirius, perking up instantly.

"Come on, let's get Moony and Wormtail!"

And with that, the two boys bounded out of the library.

* * *

Lily gathered her books and slid them into her bag. She stretched and smoothed out her skirt.

"Coming, girls?" she asked.

A few sleepy moans came in response.

"Who knew writing a letter could take so llooong?" said Serena, yawning.

"Well if you hadn't kept mentioning how you're a witch, and talking about magic, things might have gone more quickly!" teased Lily.

"It's hard to talk to muggles!" said Rosalie.

"Try living with them," muttered Lily.

* * *

**Hope you liked this chapter! Please let me know what you think!**

**Yours, Juliane**


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